Slide-fastener stringer with knit tape

ABSTRACT

A warp-knit support tape is formed with relatively bulky yarns along at least one of its edges. A coil-type coupling element is laid on the smooth reverse side of the tape and stitches pass between the turns of this coil and through the fabric between the wales thereof so that they fill a valley between wales on the front fabric side. The stitch length is greater than the course width and should be equal to an integral multiple of this width, e.g. twice the course width.

United States Patent [1 1 Frohlich et al.

[ Oct. 2, 1973 SLIDE-FASTENER STRINGER WITH KNIT TAPE [75] Inventors: Alfons Frohlich; Marie-Luise Cappel, both of Essen; Ernst Stubiger, Giessen, all of Germany [73] Assignee: Optl-llolding AG, Glarus, Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 20, I970 [21] Appl. No.: 82,326

[52] U.S. Cl...... 24/205.l C, 112/265, 24/205.l6 C,

66/195 [51] Int. Cl A44b 19/40 [58] Field of Search 24/205.16, 205.16 C,

[5 6] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,433,279 12/1947 Johnson 66/195 2,405,902 8/1946 Poux 24/205.16

3,444,598 5/1969 Glindmeyer 24/205.16 C 2,652,705 9/1953 Weinberg 24/205.16 2,903,775 9/1959 Johns 24/205.16 2,959,837 11/1960 .lette 2/275 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 713,257 7/1965 Canada 24/205.l3 C

Primary ExaminerBernard A. Gelak Att0rneyl(arl F. Ross [57] ABSTRACT A warp-knit support tape is formed with relatively bulky yarns along at least one of its edges. A coil-type coupling element is laid on the smooth reverse side of the tape and stitches pass between the turns of this coil and through the fabric between the wales thereof so that they fill a valley between wales on the front fabric side. The stitch length is greater than the course width and should be equal to an integral multiple of this width, e.g. twice the course width.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDIIBT 2 mm mm 10F is '(NVENIORS, FROHLICH M.L. CARPEL E. STUBIGER ATTORNEY PATENTEDBBT 2 3.762.002

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ATTORNEY 1 SLIDE-FASTENER STRINGER WITII KNIT TAPE The present invention relates to a slide-fastener stringer. More particularly, this invention concerns a stringer, i.e. a pair of support tapes carrying a pair of interengageable coupling elements, with a syntheticresin coupling coil.

Textile support tapes for slide-fasteners were hitherto almost invariably woven. Knit tapes have been generally thought unusable, in spite of the ease and inexpensiveness of their manufacture, on account of their elasticity and the difficulties encountered when a coupling element is attached to their edges. The stitching usually used to secure a coupling element causes the tapes to pucker, while maintainance of a regular spacing between the turns of the coupling coil is virtually impossible.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved slide-fastener stringer.

Another object is to provide a stringer having knit tapes which do not exhibit the above-stated difficulties.

The above objects are obtained according to the present invention by a stringer comprising a pair of warp-knit support tapes to which a pair of respective coupling elements are stitched with the stitches passing between the turns and having a stitch length greater than the course width of the fabric. According to another feature of this invention, the stitch length is equal to an integral multiple of the course width, e.g. twice that width.

In accordance with yet another important feature of the invention the stitches pass through the tapes between the wales, so that they lie in the intervening valleys and, therefore, add to the normal rigidity of warpknit fabric. In such an arrangement the coil must lie on the flat reverse side of the tape so that relative displacement of the tape and the coil is possible to set the ideal coil spacing right up until the stitching is actually carried out.

The stringer so made is extremely rigid, especially adjacent the coils. At the same time the particular basic elasticity of a knit fabric allows the tape and the coil to be intimately joined, with virtually no possibility of mutual displacement once they are secured together.

In our concurrently filed and commonly assigned application Ser. No. 82,327 now US. Pat. No. 3,708,836 there is disclosed a slide-fastener stringer comprising a pair of elongated warp-knit support tapes having confronting longitudinal edges, each tape consisting of a plurality of transversely offset longitudinally extending warp chains and laid-in weft filaments transversely connecting the chains to form a warp-knit foundation, and respective elongated continuous coupling elements interconnectable upon movement of a slider therealong and consisting along the confronting edges while being secured to the tapes.

In such a stringer the weft filament is laid in in a 4-4/0-0 pattern and the warp filament is chained in a -1/ l-0 pattern or a 2-0/0-2 pattern, or a pair of such warp filaments are provided, one chained in a 0-1/ 1-0 pattern and the other in a 2-0/0-2 pattern.

The tapes of this stringer are formed with stitching holes for attachement of the coupling elements and its weft filaments are voluminous textured (bulk) yarn.

That application also discloses a method of making a slide-fastener stringer comprising the steps of forming a plurality of transversely offset longitudinally extend- 2 ing warp chains, laying into these chains a plurality of weft filaments to form a pair of warp-knit foundation tapes, securing an elongated coupling element to the confronting edges of the tapes, and thermally fixing the tapes.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. I shows the combined notation for a support tape according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 1 and showing another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the guide-bar movement for producing the knits of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 3B is a diagram showingthe threading of a knitting machine for producing the knits of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a detail view of a stringer according to the present invention with the knit shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line V-V of FIG. 4.

To fully appreciate the structure of the knits, it is necessary to understand the notation of FIGS. 1, 2, 3A and 3B.

FIGS. 1 and 2 represent standard tricot point paper notation wherein each dot stands for a needle. The vertical rows of dots symbolize the wales and the horizontal rows symbolize the courses. The lines passing around the dots represent the paths of the guides during knitting and, therefore, the pattern of the yarns carried by these guides. FIG. 3A shows the paths of the individual guides, and FIG. 3B shows which of the guides are threaded for each row of needles.

Thus, for the knits of interest here two types will be seen. The guide bar can move from one space to another during each knitting cycle, i.e. the formation of each course, and then move back during the next raising and lowering of the needles. For example, the figure notation for a guide which moves from space 0 to space 1 during one knitting cycle and then back from space 1 to space 0 during the next cycle is 0-1/1-0, with the slash mark (I) separating the two cycles.

The other type of guide movement of interest is that of laying-in. In this case the guides do not move in front of the needles (overlap) but merely shog back and forth behind the needle hooks between cycles. The notation here is similar, so that 4-4/0--0.is the figure notation for a guide which, as the needles move up and down for one course, stands in space 4 and then moves to space 0 where it remains as the next course is knit. In other words, the first two digits signify the two positions between which the guide reciprocates during one knitting cycle and the second two digits indicate the end positions for the next cycle. Since for laying-in the guides do not move during the knitting cycles but are displaced between them, these numbers remain the same to each side of the slash mark.

For a more detail discussion of the above forms of notation reference can be made to the book Advanced Knitting Principles edited by Charles Reichman (National Knitted Outerwear Association: 1964), chapters 26 and 30.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a slide-fastener stringer comprises a pair of tapes 1 each carrying a nylon coupling coil 2. Each tape 1 consists of warp yarns 3 and 4 and weft yarns 5, and the tapes 1 are temporarily interlinked at their confronting edges by a connecting filament 12 (see our concurrently filed and commonly assigned patent applications, Ser. No. 82,325 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,474 and 82,323.

The warp yarn 3, as shown in FIG. 3A, is chained by the front guide bar in a -1/1-0 pattern, thus with a short reach across only one wale, whereas the other warp yarn 4 is chained by the middle guide bar in opposition thereto with a 2-0/0-2 pattern, i.e. with a long reach spanning two wales. The weft filament is laid in with a 44/0'0 pattern by the back guide bar. The finished tapes, thus, have wales 6 separated by valleys or troughs l0, and courses 11. FIG. 3B shows that the back guide bar is fully set, while the other two bars are not, so that two tapes will be selvedged and separate if produced on the same knitting machine.

The coils 2 are provided with filler cords 9 through which stitching 8 passes. The courses 11 have a width W which is equal to one-half the stitch length L of the stitching 8, which passes between the turns of the coils 2. The stitching 8 passes through the tapes 1 between the wales 6 so that it lies in one of the valleys 10, the coils 2 being laid on the smooth sides 1' of the tapes 1.

As indicated by FIG. 2, immediately adjacent the confronting edges 7 and outside edges 7' of the tapes 1 there are provided bulky filaments 3', 4', and 5'. The central regions of the tapes have the customary filaments 3, 4, and 5.

Because the stitching 8 practically fills the valley 10 adjacent the edge 7 of each tape 1, virtually all of the elasticity of these tapes 1 is eliminated in this region. Also, since the stitch length extends over at least two course widths W, there is practically no buckling of the tapes 1, so that a very fiat and dense stringer is produced, especially at these reinforced edges.

Instead of using bulk yarns 3, 4, and 5' to thicken the tape edges, it is possible to use a pair of yarns, with the guide bars double-threaded. Both methods produce a tape of regular cross-sectional thickness.

We claim:

1. A slide-fastener stringer comprising:

a pair of interengageable coupling elements each having a multiplicity of turns; a pair of warp-knit support tapes having waleforming weft filaments and course-forming weft filaments, said filaments forming longitudinally extending wales as ribs along one side of each tape, said tapes being generally flat along the opposite sides thereof, each of said tapes having an edge wale along the confronting edges of the tapes formed by said filaments with the filaments at said edge wales being of greater bulk than the filaments elsewhere along said tapes threby forming a thickened rib along said edge wale, said ribs defining troughs between them; and succession of stitches of thread heavier than said warp and weft filaments passing between said turns, said stitches having a stitich length equal substantially to the interturn spacing of the turns of the respective coupling element, said stitches passing through said tapes and securing said elements to the confronting edges of said tapes along said generally flat sides thereof, said stitches having a stitch length greater than the course width and passing through said tapes along a trough between neighboring ribs of each tape.

2. The stringer defined in claim 1 wherein said stitch length is an integral multiple of said course width.

3. The stringer defined in claim 2 whbrein said stitch length is equal to twice said course width.

4. The stringer defined in claim 3 wherein the weft filaments are laid in in a 44/00 pattern.

5. The stringer defined in claim 4 wherein at least some warp filaments are chained in a 0-1/1-0 pattern.

6. The stringer defined in claim 5 wherein other warp filaments are chained in a 2-0/0-2 pattern.

7. The stringer defined in claim 4 wherein the warp filmaments are chained in a 2-0/0-2 pattern.

* i I. t

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 3,762,002 DATED I 2 October 1973 |NV'ENTOR(5) Alfons FRUHLICH r' 51;

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In claim 1, cclumn 4, line 4, change of "weft" (first occurrence) to warp Signed and Scaled this Twenty-second Day Of February 1977 [SEAL] Attest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN ff Commissioner ofPatents and Trademarks UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE GERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 9 PATENT N0. 2

DATED 2 October 1973 II INVENTO I nS gILH r1e Luise CAPPEL and it is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent Q are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading, after line 2 insert:

Q Foreign Application Priority Data 4 April 1970 GERMANY P 2O 16 145.9

} Signed and Scaled [his eighteenth Day Of May 1976 [SEAL] Arrest:

. RUTH c M I f N c. MARSHALL DANN i Arresting Officer (ummissinm'r uflan'ms and Trademarks 

1. A slide-fastener stringer comprising: a pair of interengageable coupling elements each having a multiplicity of turns; a pair of warp-knit support tapes having wale-forming weft filaments and course-forming weft filaments, said filaments forming longitudinally extending wales as ribs along one side of each tape, said tapes being generally flat along the opposite sides thereof, each of said tapes having an edge wale along the confronting edges of the tapes formed by said filaments with the filaments at said edge wales being of greater bulk than the filaments elsewhere along said tapes threby forming a thickened rib along said edge wale, said ribs defining troughs between them; and a succession of stitches of thread heavier than said warp and weft filaments passing between said turns, said stitches having a stitich length equal substantially to the interturn spacing of the turns of the respective coupling element, said stitches passing through said tapes and securing said elements to the confronting edges of said tapes along said generally flat sides thereof, said stitches having a stitch length greater than the course width and passing through said tapes along a trough between neighboring ribs of each tape.
 2. The stringer defined in claim 1 wherein said stitch length is an integral multiple of said course width.
 3. The stringer defined in claim 2 whbrein said stitch length is equal to twice said course width.
 4. The stringer defined in claim 3 wherein the weft filaments are laid in in a 4-4/0-0 pattern.
 5. The stringer defined in claim 4 wherein at least some warp filaments are chained in a 0-1/1-0 pattern.
 6. The stringer defined in claim 5 wherein other warp filaments are chained in a 2-0/0-2 pattern.
 7. The stringer defined in claim 4 wherein the warp filmaments are chained in a 2-0/0-2 pattern. 